2016 S&V Newsletter No 07, February 22

S&V Footwear and Leather Goods / S&V African Leather

NFLC – new board ‘preparing report’

Vanderbijlpark (SA) – The new board of the National Footwear & Leather Cluster (NFLC), appointed in December, has until the end of April to prepare a report for stakeholders on the performance and future direction of the NFLC.
Acting chairman John Comley and acting executive director Ernest Heunis declined to elaborate.

Invitation to opening of the India Leather & Footwear Trade Expo in Cape Town

Cape Town (SA) – The India Leather & Footwear Trade Show will be officially opened by Puneet R Kundal, Consul General, Consulate General of India, on Tuesday, 8 March at 10:30am in Hall 1A at the CTICC in Cape Town.
The Council for Leather Exports (CLE), under the aegis of the Government of India (Ministry of Commerce & Industry) cordially invites the industry to attend the inauguration and meet with 30 top class non-leather footwear, leather footwear and garments, leather goods including handbags, belts, wallets, portfolios, safety gloves as well as finished leather manufacturers from India afterwards.
The show is not open to the public and an exclusive range of their latest products will be on display to buyers from chain stores, mini-chains, independent retailers, importers, agents, distributors, manufacturers and other professional industry decision makers.
These leading manufacturers are all members of the Council for Leather Exports and have been exporting to countries all over the world including USA, UK, France, South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, UAE, Greece, Finland, Italy, Zambia, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, and others.
If you have not yet registered to attend the trade expo, please register online at http://urexpo.com. Entrance is free but pre-registration necessary. For more information, contact the local show organiser - LTE – leaders in trade exhibitions on Tel: +27 21 790 5849, Email: deidreh@worldonline.co.za.

Bush Beat to merge with Safariland Holtz

Windhoek, (Namibia) – Bush Beat Clothing has been merged with Safariland Holtz, according to a circular from owner Marco Holtz. – [+264 (0)61 23 5941, accounting@safariholtz.com]

Conference on health and future materials

Waalwijk (The Netherlands) – Footwear innovation and education institute SLEM will host a 2-day conference focusing on health and future footwear materials on April 19 and 20.
The first day will be the Footwear Health Tech conference, where speakers will be talking about and demonstrating state of the art technologies in footwear that will profoundly improve fit, performance, health and safety. This year’s conference will be focusing on wearable technology and its implementations in footwear. Experts will touch on new ways of monitoring and improving health, motion sensors, smart insoles, and interactive footwear.
On April 20, at the SLEM Future Footwear Materials Conference, speakers will show and talk about how to find sustainable resources, the circular economy, bioprinting, smart textiles, and new ways of treating and making leather. – [http://www.slem.nl/]

ABSA Agri Trends 12/02: Hides & skins prices

The average hide price traded slightly higher over the past week at R14.35/kg green. Hide prices are determined by the average of RMAA and independent companies.
The average price for Dorper skins traded slightly higher at R79.17/skin and Merino traded higher at R93.27/skin.
The average price for ostrich skins was down 2.27% to R1554.18.
Ostrich raw meat exports dropped 3.88% to R45.12/kg. Heat treated meat increased 071% to R32.78, and domestic meat sales stayed the same at R11.61.

They Said It

"In five-and-a-half years, this is the weakest I’ve seen demand for ostrich leather." - KKI MD Charl du Plessis.

"Capital goes where it feels it’s safest and where it can get the highest return – it isn’t a Christian sport." - Eddels CEO John Comley on investment in the footwear industry.

"Could you please change the email address of info@saflec.co.za to info2@saflec.co.za. This change is necessary due to the fact that SAFLEC will have another staff member as from 1 March 2016." - SAFLEC finance & admin manager Louise Pelser. When asked who the new person would be, we got the snippy little response: "Patience my friend.  All will be revealed in due course."

"When is my birthday going to be in your magazine? I’ve been in the industry for 50 years and you haven’t ever listed it." - Errol Smith of ENS Machinery cc. Our error, and he is now on the birthday list. For the record, his birthday was on February 7.

Milestones

On the 2nd of March this year, I will have spent 51 years in the Footwear Industry, primarily the manufacturing sector, 14 years in Retail at Edcon head-office and currently the Project Manager at The National Footwear & Leather Cluster of SA at The Vaal University of Technology. – Stephen Chetty [082 556 9244, schetty@nflc.org.za].

Birthdays this week

22/02/1967: Shabir Ahmed Moola, Moola’s Newcastle.
22/02/1970: Ebrahim Akoon, Urban Legends, Bloemfontein.
22/02/1982: Katherine Bischoff, Leatherband, Johannesburg.
23/02/1949: Jeff Burland, retired, formerly United Fram/Wayne Plastics, Johannesburg.
24/02/????: Harry Adams, Finlam Textiles, Pinetown.
24/02/1973: M Taljaard, Taljaard Shoe Store, Germiston.
24/02/1954: Linda Gordon, Riversdalse Skoenwinkel, Riversdal.
26/02/1946: Brian Carmichael, MTL Trading, Cape Town.
26/02/1959: Prakash Chiba, Falcarragy Trading, Durban.
26/02/1961: Keith Lyons, Strayz, Pinetown.
27/02/1975: Denver Mahabeer, Edgars, Johannesburg.
28/02/1945: Basil da Silva, Mendelson & Frost, Cape Town.
28/02/1969: Dilesh Makan, agent, Johannesburg.

In Memoriam this week

27/02/2010: Jean Mee ‘Mick’ Lailvaux (b. 22/02/1919), Service Agencies (closed), Durban.
27/02/2010: Amanda ‘Mandy’ Terry (b. 20/02/1969), Makro, Johannesburg.

Contact us

News & Classifieds: Tony Dickson, +27 (0)31 209 7505, tony@svmag.co.za

Next newsletter: February 22, 2016

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